1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a pager for receiving and displaying a message transmitted through a radio wave.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A pager for receiving and displaying a message transmitted through a radio wave is known. Such a prior art pager receives a radio wave signal transmitted by a base station, demodulates the radio wave signal, detects an identification (ID) code data, and receives a message when the identification code data agrees with the identification code of the pager, and alerts the user and displays the message on a dot matrix display. In this prior art pager, if the length of the message is less than or equal to the number of characters displayed on the display, the message is displayed as it is. However, if the length of the message is larger than the number of characters which can be displayed on the display at the same time, the message is displayed as follows:
At first, a top block of the message is displayed for a predetermined interval and the portion of the message displayed is scrolled from the right end to the left end by one character by one character. That is, the most left character is erased and the second most left character to the most right character are shifted to the left, and a new character is displayed at the most right position. This operation is repeated until the end of the message is displayed. That is, the scroll is made character by character and the scroll speed is fixed. Alternatively, at first, a top block of the message is displayed for a predetermined interval and then the following block of the message is displayed. This operation is repeated until the end of the message is displayed. That is, the scroll is made row by row and the scroll speed is fixed.
The aim of the present invention is to provide an improved pager.
A pager for alerting the user and displaying received message data when the received ID code agrees with the ID code of the pager, comprising: a dot matrix display, having dot matrix of a (horizontal)xc3x97b (vertical), for displaying the message data; a detector for detecting a total length of the message data when the message data displayed on the dot matrix display and whether or not the total length is larger than the a; and a display control portion for displaying a portion of the message data on the dot matrix display with the displayed message data scrolled by a predetermined number of dots every predetermined interval in the direction defined by a when the total length is larger than a. The predetermined number and interval are stored in memory and can be changed according to an operation of a key switch or a detected control code, the control code being further included in the pager signal. The message is scrolled in either the forward or the reverse horizontal direction in response to key switches and the scrolled speed, i.e., pitch of dots and the scroll interval, can be changed. The pager further comprises a character ROM for generating character image data according to the received message data. The total length of the message is detected by detecting the number of the message data or the character image data.
According to the present invention there is provided a pager for receiving a transmitted pager signal, including identification code data and message data, and for displaying the received message data, comprising: a receiving portion for receiving the transmitted pager signal; a demodulator for demodulating the received pager signal; a detector for detecting the identification code data and detecting and receiving the message data from the demodulated pager signal when the identification code data agrees with an identification code assigned to the pager; an alert portion for alerting a user of the pager when the detected identification code data agrees with the identification code assigned to the pager; a dot matrix display, having dot matrix of axc3x97b, for displaying the message data, a and b being natural numbers; a detection portion for detecting a total length of the message data when the message data is displayed on the dot matrix display and whether or not the total length is larger than a; and a display control portion for displaying a portion of the message data on the dot matrix display with the displayed message data scrolled by a predetermined number of dots every predetermined interval in the direction defined by a when the size is larger than a.
The Pager mentioned above further comprises a memory for storing first data indicative of the predetermined number and second data indicative of the predetermined interval, the display control portion displaying the portion of the message data on the dot matrix display with the message data scrolled by the predetermined number of dots every predetermined interval in accordance with the first and second data from the memory. This pager may further comprise a setting portion for generating the first or second data in accordance with a setting signal and storing the generated first or second data in the memory. Moreover, the pager signal may include a control code and the pager may further comprise a second detection portion for detecting the control code and producing the setting signal in accordance with the detected control code.
In the pager mentioned above, the display control portion displays the portion of the message data on the dot matrix display with the message data scrolled in either of the forward or reverse direction along direction in response to a direction command signal.
The pager mentioned above may further comprise a character image generation portion for generating character image data in accordance with the received message data, the dot matrix display displaying the message data using the character image data, the detection portion detecting the total length of the message data by detecting a number of the character image data.
According to the present invention there is also provided a pager for receiving a transmitted pager signal, including identification code data and message data and for displaying the received message data, comprising: a receiving portion for receiving the transmitted pager signal; a demodulator for demodulating the received pager signal; a detector for detecting the identification code data and detecting and receiving the message data from the pager signal from the demodulator when the identification code data agrees with an identification code assigned to the pager; an alert portion for alerting a user of the pager when the detected identification code data agrees with the identification code assigned to the pager; a character image generation portion for generating character image data in accordance with the received message data; a dot matrix digplay, having dot matrix of axc3x97b, for displaying the character image data, a and b being natural numbers; a detection portion for detecting a size of the character image data when the character image data is displayed on the dot matrix display and detecting whether or not the size is larger than a; and a display control portion for displaying a portion of the character image data on the dot matrix display with the character image data scrolled by a predetermined number of dots every predetermined interval in the direction defined by a when the size is larger than a.